Montreal Restaurants: The Best deals for lunch

Posted on November 28th, 2009 by .

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know by now that Montreal is full of great restaurants. But with the recession impacting our spending, these great restaurants are not always an option, budget-wise. Here’s an idea: why not try them for lunch, when prices are more affordable?

Here are the some of downtown Montreal’s top restaurants that offer full flavour for a fraction of the price at lunch time:

TRINITY
This beautiful restaurant will sweep you away to Greece. Amazing décor meets the best of gourmet Greek cuisine. I recommend the lamb shank and rabbit. Though pricey for dinner, they offer soup or salad, mezze, main dish, dessert and coffee for the unbeatable price of $19 over the noon hour.

NEWTOWN
With its $22 set lunch menu, you can’t go wrong with Newtown, located on slick Crescent street. With two new chefs heading up the kitchen, the quality of the food is exceptional. And if you hurry up, you can even try “Vert,” the famous dessert I mentioned in a previous post about Newtown Restaurant

LA COUPOLE
Nested inside the Hôtel Crystal, this deluxe brasserie offers a set lunch for $25. In its chic dinning room, surrounded buy the usual business crowd, you’ll get to choose between 4 appetizers and 7 main courses. The menu also includes a granité iced dessert and coffee or tea. And if that’s not enough indulging for you, check out their amazing wine list and its comfortable terrace (perfect for cigar aficionados). I actually did a full review of La Coupole restaurant not too long ago, in case you want more information.

LA MONTÉE
Once located in Plateau Mont-Royal, La Montée has moved downtown and its loyal customers have followed. The owner describes the style of the kitchen as cuisine d’idées (“a kitchen with ideas”) and likes to feature local produce. I recently indulged in a roasted pork chop with mushroom ragoût and green lentils. Savoury and delicious! The new venue also has an outdoor patio. At lunch, you can get an appetizer and main dish for less than $20. Also worth noting is that they’re open all afternoon, so even if you miss lunch, you can always stop by for a little pick-me-up of oysters.

BEAVER HALL
Montreal’s famous Europea restaurant has a little brother named is Beaver Hall, a typical French bistro. The same chef leads both kitchens, much to the delight Francophile foodies. Mussels marinière, warm goat cheese salad, steak and fries… The portions are generous and the service is fast. Expect to spend between $14 and $25 for an appetizer and main dish. You can even order the selected wine pairing to go with your dish, perfect if you are not a wine expert. And if you love foie gras, you can indulge in this sinful treat for a fraction of what you would pay at Europea – and in my opinion, it’s almost as good.

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